These will make a good campaign. I saw the Mossberg ad first and wasn't paying attention (it was just after Chloe tazed that barfly) and couldn't figure out if the egghead guy or the slacker was supposed to be the Mac guy. But the second one I saw, I figured it out. Slacker, good. Dork, bad.

Any one else kinda think the "PC" guy kinda looks like a Bill Gates ish type figure....Go Apple Finally

"riskier"? risky because a spotlight has been shined by MSNBC on the same day commercial premiers (wow, what a "risky" coincidence) over a "virus" which is really a trojan which was news 3 months ago. MSNBC is doing MS FUD.

The actor in the Mac Ad who play the Mac is Justin Long of "Herbie Fully Loaded" and "Dodgeball" fame. Justin was not in "Strangers with Candy". You are probably thinking of Paul Dinello. They do look similar.

Cringe

Have the creators of these commercials considered the subject position of the viewer? A vast majority of the audience for these commercials is pc users, and if you're a pc user, who are you going to identify with? The smarmy, cool Mac guy or the well-intentioned yet bumbly PC guy? For those who identify with the PC guy, are they going to feel like they're being made fun of?

What this ad firm is doing here, it seems, has learned nothing from the storytelling mastery we see in Daily Show (where they got one of the actors) or the Colbert Report. That storytelling that make those shows so good: they don't take the message seriously. The generation that Apple is aiming to connect with is much smarter than these commercials.

I think it's time for Apple's ad firm to step up to the plate and swing at a few of the most important issues facing Apple's image: price and speed. And focus attention on the biggest hurdle to expanding market share: an ordinary person's fear of change - "I know my pc, I don't know if I'll know how to use a mac." These are the key problems to tackle for that ad agency. In light of these pressing image and inertia problems, this round of ads fails horribly.

In contrast, remember the "Technologic" iPod ad? Or the iPod Shuffle ads with the colored arrows racing through the dance floors? These were great at framing the product as cool and advanced and by association, you could be too. You see, for most people, the price issue disappears when it comes to an iPod. They're going to get, and they believe they're getting "the best", and it may cost a little more. In contrast, unfortunately, people tend to buy computers - things they spend much more time staring into than their iPods - with a 'cheapest on the market' approach. There are ways to combat this with questions like: "Are you the type of person who spends that little extra on your shoes? Sure we all like a deal, but isn't our time worth more than a PC?" or pick up on a conversation between two people at a coffee shop comparing what they got for the same price. I mean, face it: the person with the PC laptop is going to have to answer no to several key questions: "Is yours dual core? How do you manage all your digital photos? Can you back up your stuff on DVDs?" And the person with the MacBook is going to have to answer no to only one: Games. But maybe not if they can restart their system with bootcamp? But you see, this commercial doesn't exist. Why is that, when these are the real questions people consider when upgrading?

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Anonymous wrote:
The actor in the Mac Ad who play the Mac is Justin Long of "Herbie Fully Loaded" and "Dodgeball" fame. Justin was not in "Strangers with Candy". You are probably thinking of Paul Dinello. They do look similar.

Well to repeat what I said last night before I saw these ads I still feel that the line taaken by the iPod ads where you are creating an image for a product that shows it as desirable and cool and people want to buy into is tthe best line to take as has (and I apologise for the repetition) Sony has with its Brevia ads. It doesn't mean that the ads have to look like either of those inspirations of course but I just feel that the first objective is to get people to notice, then go wow and then want to know more about the product.

Now these ads take a different approach and I quite like them actually and they have scope for expansion. But I do feel the comments above about the we are superior to you approach (though much softer here) is likely to piss off many of those that you want to appeal to by basically saying you are a dork and will remain one unless you change. Surely at least untill the momentum is established and you want to create a 'I don't want to be left out' effect it is better to establish a/the Mac as a desirable, exciting, superior, yet unthreatening lifestyle choice first then increasingly go for the jugular as you hit home by focusing on those superiorities. If you offend people they will simply dig in their heels.

That said the style they have chosen at least clearly takes on some of the important aspects that differentiate the two platforms and certainly will start to make the more open minded PC user, who doesn't take it personally to listen and start to question their choice.

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pdx wrote:
Have the creators of these commercials considered the subject position of the viewer? A vast majority of the audience for these commercials is pc users, and if you're a pc user, who are you going to identify with? The smarmy, cool Mac guy or the well-intentioned yet bumbly PC guy? For those who identify with the PC guy, are they going to feel like they're being made fun of?

What this ad firm is doing here, it seems, has learned nothing from the storytelling mastery we see in Daily Show (where they got one of the actors) or the Colbert Report. That storytelling that make those shows so good: they don't take the message seriously. The generation that Apple is aiming to connect with is much smarter than these commercials.

I think it's time for Apple's ad firm to step up to the plate and swing at a few of the most important issues facing Apple's image: price and speed. And focus attention on the biggest hurdle to expanding market share: an ordinary person's fear of change - "I know my pc, I don't know if I'll know how to use a mac." These are the key problems to tackle for that ad agency. In light of these pressing image and inertia problems, this round of ads fails horribly.

In contrast, remember the "Technologic" iPod ad? Or the iPod Shuffle ads with the colored arrows racing through the dance floors? These were great at framing the product as cool and advanced and by association, you could be too. You see, for most people, the price issue disappears when it comes to an iPod. They're going to get, and they believe they're getting "the best", and it may cost a little more. In contrast, unfortunately, people tend to buy computers - things they spend much more time staring into than their iPods - with a 'cheapest on the market' approach. There are ways to combat this with questions like: "Are you the type of person who spends that little extra on your shoes? Sure we all like a deal, but isn't our time worth more than a PC?" or pick up on a conversation between two people at a coffee shop comparing what they got for the same price. I mean, face it: the person with the PC laptop is going to have to answer no to several key questions: "Is yours dual core? How do you manage all your digital photos? Can you back up your stuff on DVDs?" And the person with the MacBook is going to have to answer no to only one: Games. But maybe not if they can restart their system with bootcamp? But you see, this commercial doesn't exist. Why is that, when these are the real questions people consider when upgrading?

...I hear what people here are saying, and I think that "Viruses," "Restarting," and "Better" could be seen as 'smug' in the way you are saying.

That being said, I think that "iLife," "Network," and "WSJ" are fantastic and seem to avoid the things you don't like about the others. They say more good things about Macs than bad things about PCs, they address some common misconceptoins, and they're fun. I really like those 3.

EDIT: I also don't think price and speed need to be mentioned as much anymore. First of all, the average consumer isn't focused on speed so much anymore. They realize that ALL computers are about 10 million times faster than 'Word' needs them to be. People who CARE about speed probably know about the Intel switch. Talking about speed is a waste of time right now.

And I think 'price' was addressed in the "WSJ" ad. Besides, I think pushing the virus message is all you need. Talking about spyware is probably enough to make any Windows user stop thinking about price so much! As someone said, people don't think about 'price' when it comes to iPods. They just know they want one. Getting THAT feeling for the Mac is much, much better than actually TALKING about price and saying "it's not so much...really!" Better to just make them want it at any price. Once they check them out online they'll see the price isn't so horrible.

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Guest wrote:
Any one else kinda think the "PC" guy kinda looks like a Bill Gates ish type figure....Go Apple Finally

I love them. They're funny. Smug? Yeah, sure, a little, but that's just good psyche, IMHO. Everyone wants to be the cool kid and those who don't aren't worth having as customers. This is clever marketing on Apple's terms. Great job.

It has been a very long time (well, perhaps not measured in Vista-years) since Apple directly compared itself to Windows. This is the first shot across Microsoft's bow, and they did it very well. These ads are reminiscent of the "Switcher" ads and as such are, both, informative and memorable through the use of humor.

I disagree with "PDX" above. It makes no sense to pick a battle based on price or speed. "Small White Car" was precisely correct in stating that speed is no longer an issue. If you're a gamer then speed isn't going to matter if all of your aps are on Windows anyway. And in terms of price, it is impossible to do an intelligent comparison of features, functions and value in a 30-second ad that isn't as dry and boring as unbuttered toast.

The ads do precisely what they are intended to do; they offer a little entertainment while educating the viewer just enough to make them check out the Apple website or even visit a store if the viewer has previously passed by one in the local mall.

There is no doubt these ads will be a hot topic throughout this week. People will try to send a volley of shots back across Apple's bow, but they'll be unsuccessful. And Apple's timing couldn't be better; they can continue these shots well into the Christmas holiday season and Microsoft will have no ammunition to fire back. Well, other than their usual string of feeble promises for something obscure in the future. But by then, Apple will have an even better OS to show the world while Microsoft continues with the same old string of stale promises. Apple will be seen as constantly and rapidly advancing while Windows is still stuck in the mud, spinning its wheels.

These are well-timed and well-placed shots. Well done, Apple!

I feel it wrong that the "Mac guy" is dressed like the sort of person who'd deliver your pizza. My clients are business-types and if anything these ads will significantly reinforce the "Macs are for shabbily dressed geeks who play about with videos and music, PCs are for us business professionals" stereotype.

Perhaps if they had depicted "Mac Man" as a doctor, lawyer, investment-banker in a few of the ads it would help boost Apple's credibility in the business world? Hell, Apple really need to do _something_ to boost corporate sales.

…they don't need to do anything to boost corporate sales ("You should see what this guy can do with a spreadsheet…"). They can conceed that ground because people use computers for other things in other settings these days. That is the whole point of Apple's strategy for years now. Sure, you need to run Office—and you can. And when you get that out of the way, you can get on with your life.

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Guest wrote:
Hell, Apple really need to do _something_ to boost corporate sales.

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Guest wrote:
Perhaps if they had depicted "Mac Man" as a doctor, lawyer, investment-banker in a few of the ads it would help boost Apple's credibility in the business world? Hell, Apple really need to do _something_ to boost corporate sales.

I think Apple faced a challenge in developing a series of ads that would work well with the general consumer. Lots of detailed information OS X isn't the way to go - IBM proved that with OS 2. The ads simply take one issue at a time in an easy, funny way and think they will be well received.

It isn't that bad for the older folks either - I'm 61 and enjoyed all of the ads. I think Apple has a winner and will be delivering similar ads on different topics over time.

Apple is taking the fight to the other mfr's home court, armed with an OS that has near zero issues with the number one problem with PCs, which is security, and they're advertising their story with a remarkably Apple-like vehicle. The message is very clear, and the PC manufacturers are going to be squirming because of this ad because they can't do damned thing to fix it, the problem is in Microsoft's court. A couple of these ads are bell ringers. A couple aren't as clear, but the ad concept overall remind me of IBM's Chaplin ads of long ago. Apple does not have to be nice. They're not insulting you the PC user, they're offering you an edge over your current gear.

if they want to switch the corporate types then portray some suit as a cool Mac user.

I thought the networking one was lame. What language does your digital camera speak that only the mac understands? I don't wanna buy that digital camera. I've worked cross platform for about 3 years now. I like the mac better for a number of reasons, but one of them is not because I feel more awesome when someone sees me using a mac. The rest were just typical mac fare, toting coolness as being associated with owning a mac. Besides I bet the old dude makes more money than that kid anyway.

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Guest wrote:
“riskier”? risky because a spotlight has been shined by MSNBC on the same day commercial premiers (wow, what a “risky” coincidence) over a “virus” which is really a trojan which was news 3 months ago. MSNBC is doing MS FUD.

You want to expand the market share a bit?

You want to attract new users?

The look at what you have to sell. Apple makes the coolest looking computers with a whiz bang and now fast as hell OS. I was at an apple store the other day and those damn things are fast now.

Anyway, you target your ad at the influencers and taste makers as in the 16 to 34 year old set not the mac faithful. These are ads for people who already like macs.

Cue up really cool ipod commercial style music and then show young hip people using the coolest computers around. Show off the silent and cool mac mini and the imac with the remote and the backlite keyboard on the macbook pro. Then pan off to a user opening up an Office app (look Office on Mac duh) and then to Expose or Spotlight or maybe someone using iLife or whatever.

The deal is no words, no convincing. Sell the cool. Its the one thing the mac has a ton of.

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Guest wrote:
You want to expand the market share a bit?

You want to attract new users?

The look at what you have to sell. Apple makes the coolest looking computers with a whiz bang and now fast as hell OS. I was at an apple store the other day and those damn things are fast now.

Anyway, you target your ad at the influencers and taste makers as in the 16 to 34 year old set not the mac faithful. These are ads for people who already like macs.

Cue up really cool ipod commercial style music and then show young hip people using the coolest computers around. Show off the silent and cool mac mini and the imac with the remote and the backlite keyboard on the macbook pro. Then pan off to a user opening up an Office app (look Office on Mac duh) and then to Expose or Spotlight or maybe someone using iLife or whatever.

The deal is no words, no convincing. Sell the cool. Its the one thing the mac has a ton of.

I think i’d prefer this “Mac”.

I didn't want to comment on these ads until I saw them actually in rotation, in "the wild" as it were rather than on my computer screen. I was worried they would only appear on prime time TV, but the fact that they're running on ESPN's sportcenter this morning is a very positive sign.

This is literally what I've been waiting for since the early 90s, a campaign that does more than rely on coolness or brand strength to sell macs. I particularly love the virus one, because it is an almost perfect blend of simplicity and message, the message being "Mac: It just works".

I do agree with other posters that there is room for improvement, but these ads are such a quantum leap beyond the switcher ads or the Intel Snail/clean room suit ads of the past in effectiveness that I can forgive their minor failings. Not every apple Ad can match the pure rhetorical power of the classic 1984 spot, but this might be the closest they have come since.

A few thoughts on the iLife spot:
The belt Hodgman is wearing is awesome, both because it illustrates the physical clutter of hardcore geeks and because it helps to undercut the sense of elitism and attack on "PC" in the ad; I think it makes the PC character more sympathetic. You'll also notice that the "Mac" is nothing but helpful to the PC, using a casual friendly tone to explain the advantages of Mac's without ever attacking directly. It certainly mirrors the most civilized and effective dialogues I've had with PC users considering the switch, which I doubt is coincidental.

Where the iLife ad falls short is that it doesn't really stress that these other apps (which most americans have probably never heard of) also make integration with the video and photo abilities of newer iPods easier.

Also, iWeb kinda sucks. If you want your site to have the Apple.Com look and feel its great, but trying to create a site with completely different graphical properties is much harder than it should be. I recently used it to do two different web sites for school projects, primarily because both were text-heavy sites that needed to be created very quickly (I usually hand-code) and because I refuse to use Frontpage (insert your own "I would rather have X horrible physical traumas than use Frontpage" statement here). Every time I created a new page it forced me to use a default template, so if I wanted a site with different backgrounds I was forced to manually reformat each time, and the fact that "You can't modify the appearance of the navigation menu" (from iWeb help) is just ridiculous. Anyway thats tertiary to these commercials, I just think iWeb is slightly undercooked compared to all the other apps in the iLife suite.

Finally, when they are comparing installed apps at the end of the commercial the first thing I thought of was games, a general weakness of Mac as others have noted here. This to me highlights the need for Apple to address this critical gap. I don't propose that they could ever compete with the volume of games for Windows, they would have to license DirectX to mac or create some type of compatibility layer for it before they could even begin to come close. What it does say to me is that Apple needs a true gaming killer app, likely an FPS, that has the same broad appeal and potential popularity as Halo, to bundle with 10.5. You can say all you want about running games in Boot Camp, which I would agree is cool, but its not enough. Nanosaur and Marble Blast are no longer sufficient, Apple needs its own dedicated gaming unit (buy BLIZZARD!) that turns out world-class games. They don't even need to be Mac exclusive games, they could put out PS2/3 or Gamecube/Revolution(Wii) versions as well, only MS platforms would be automatically excluded.

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble, but I'm actually excited about a new Apple ad campaign for the first time in a loooong while

Can someone who speaks Japanese please translate what Mac guy and camera woman are saying?

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Guest wrote:
These are ads for people who already like macs.

Roughly translates to "Nice to meet you."

Dozo yorushiku onegai shimasu is basically the same thing. Rote sentences you repeat when you meet someone new.

I can't make out what DigiCam says while giggling at the end.

If I understand correctly, it is something like:

"Who's that? Isn't he kind of a geek?" Or something along those lines.

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Guest wrote:
Can someone who speaks Japanese please translate what Mac guy and camera woman are saying?

"Have the creators of these commercials considered the subject position of the viewer? A vast majority of the audience for these commercials is pc users, and if you're a pc user, who are you going to identify with? "

They're representing computers. You're not supposed to IDENTIFY with either of them as people.

You're supposed to consider which one you'd like better as your computer.

I like to have sex with stuffed animals.

Incredibly bad campaign. Slamming the competition is unprofessional in virtually every industry. Even worse when you use deliberately misleading and wooley information to do it.

Simple, smart and fun! I love these ads.

I just saw this article talking about that: http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lainspotting/2006/05/apple-tv-commercial-disses-geeks.html

I asked my friend who is japanese:
"At the end where she and the Mac say something in Japanese that looks like they are making fun of the PC, what are they saying?"

She replied:
Very sharp observation, she is making fun of the PC and is very funny if you knew Japanese. She is asking the Mac, "Hey hey, doesn't he look like 'Otaku'?"

Now "Otaku" traditionally means 'your' or 'your home' but in popular language, it refers to men who are immersed in one single hobby or interest (for example, computer, cameras, UFO, railroad, anime etc.) These people are usually brilliant in their subject, but are nerdy and have poor social skills--and unpopular with girls as you can see.

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Anonymous wrote:
I just saw this article talking about that: http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lainspotting/2006/05/apple-tv-commercial-disses-geeks.html